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Telecom Business Alert - Iowa 700 MHz Waiver Granted, FCC Goes Green, FirstNet RFI Comment Deadline Extended, and the API Cybersecurity Conference - Volume XI, Issue 41

October 14, 2014, Volume XI, Issue 41

Iowa 700 MHz Waiver Granted, FCC Goes Green, FirstNet RFI Comment Deadline Extended, and the API Cybersecurity Conference

Iowa 700 MHz Waiver Granted

Last week, the FCC released an Order granting the State of Iowa a temporary and conditional waiver of the five-year substantial service deadline for the buildout of its 700 MHz state license.  The original deadline of June 13, 2014 was established several years after the Commission designated 96 narrowband channel pairs from the 700 MHz spectrum for statewide geographic Public Safety use.  Iowa’s system is intended to provide services to its Department of Public Safety, Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources, and Department of Corrections, among others.  Its waiver request identified a timeline of delays which ultimately prevented it from meeting the June deadline.  In response, the Commission extended the deadline by one year.  For more information, please contact Al Catalano (catalano@khlaw.com; 202-434-4207).

FCC ULS Goes Green/ASR Gets Facelift

Last week, the FCC made a change to its Universal Licensing System (ULS) allowing licensees to change their paper authorization preferences to no longer receive paper copies of licenses.  Currently, any change made to a license will result in a new copy of the authorization being printed and mailed to the address listed on the license.  The change to the system also allows licensees to download electronic copies of licenses.  In other news, the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) interface got a facelift recently, giving users a much more interactive method of applying for and modifying ASR’s.  

FirstNet Extends RFI Deadline/Utilities Considered

As mentioned in the September 22 issue of the Telecom Business Alert, FirstNet is seeking comments (see, Public Notice) regarding the scope and interpretation of its enabling legislation and has issued a Request For Information (RFI) soliciting comprehensive network solutions, including infrastructure sharing.  The Public Notice proposes the definition of “Public Safety” include, “an entity [that] may offer other services in addition to public safety services and still qualify as a public safety entity.”  However, FirstNet says that it could choose to restrict priority access for some public safety entities for policy reasons.  In any event, levels of priority remain a major issue.  The RFI is a precursor to a draft RFP and, ultimately, to a final RFP focused on sustainability of the FirstNet network.  The Comment deadline has been extended to October 27.  For more information, please contact Al Catalano (catalano@khlaw.com; 202-434-4207).

API Cybersecurity Conference

The American Petroleum Institute (API) will hold its annual Cybersecurity Conference and Expo in Houston, Texas November 11-12.  The program will include over 60 presentations focusing on topics ranging from emerging threats in the oil and natural gas industry and critical infrastructure security to “bring your own device” policies and endpoint security.  For more information, visit API’s website, or contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202-434-4239).

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Keller and Heckman LLP's Telecom Business Alert is a complimentary weekly electronic update created by the Telecommunications and the Business Counseling and Transactional practice groups of Keller and Heckman LLP.  All articles, videos, and quotations are on topics of general interest and do not constitute legal advice for particularized facts.  Keller and Heckman LLP's Telecom Business Alert © 2013.  All rights reserved.  Articles may be copied with attribution.  To sign up for our weekly alert, please send us an email at telecomalert@khlaw.com and provide us with your name and email.  Please follow us on twitter at @KHtelecom.